Lord of Disease (JP-GL) 157-158

157-158: The Lord of Disease’s Mansion

The Listrea Demon Kingdom.

On the outskirts of the capital stood a mansion. Beside the gate, surrounded by a brick wall, hung a single banner.

A serpent, with a dagger in its mouth.

The Plague Banner. The emblem of the Sixth Army. The flag of the Lord of Disease.

Everyone knew who lived in the mansion.

The Lord of Disease.

A supreme commander of the Demon King’s army, a ruthless mage who had declared her intention to exterminate humanity by any means necessary.

Therefore, no one approached the mansion.

Everyone whispered that you shouldn’t get close.

And so, three figures approached.

They were small. Children.

One beastman and two dark elves. One of the dark elves was a girl.

They had come to explore the Lord of Disease’s mansion, a place they had been strictly forbidden to go near, in the bright afternoon sun.

But the girl’s expression was grim.

“Hey… maybe we should go back?”

“Shut up. If you’re so scared, go home by yourself.”

“Come on… we’re not going in. We’re just going to peek through the gate…”

“Let’s go.”

The boisterous-looking canine beastman boy took the lead, peering through the iron gate.

“…Black Hound Barghests…”

They all swallowed hard.

Roaming the garden were black dogs. But even a child—or perhaps because they were children—could tell that they were not ordinary dogs.

Their black fur was soft and glossy, as if it had been petted and brushed daily.

And their magical signature was faint. Even through the gaps in the gate, they could see more than ten of them.

An ordinary dog would have had a stronger magical presence. So, if you were surrounded by them, you probably wouldn’t even realize it until it was too late.

“Let’s go around back.”

“Let’s just go home.”

“Yeah, we’ve seen enough.”

“What are you going to see from the back?”

“Well, I want to see the Lord of Disease.”

“Me too, but…”

The two boys noticed that the dark elf girl’s face, despite her brown skin, was pale.

“What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Who… are you two talking to…?”

A silence fell.

Four shadows stretched out on the ground, illuminated by the sun.

One was taller than the others.

“Um… we…”

The dark elf boy, trembling, forced himself to speak.

“You wished to see the face of the Lord of Disease…?”

The deep, resonant voice, as if from the depths of hell, shattered what little courage they had left. The kind, gentle woman’s voice they’d heard a moment ago had just been a lure, a way to put them at ease.

“And would you know it, if you saw it?”

“W-we… we… b-b-bromide… s-saw…”

The beastman boy, his teeth chattering, forced himself to answer. He knew that if he didn’t, he would be killed.

His words were barely coherent, but he had meant to say, “We’ve seen the bromides.”

“Oh…?” The voice was filled with a deep, chilling amusement. Then, silence.

Unable to bear the overwhelming terror, the three of them spun around.

“Is this the face you were looking for…?”

The three of them screamed in unison.

Peeking out from the shadows of the deep green robe was a single, orange eye, glowing with an eerie, flickering light.

They screamed and fled, tripping and stumbling, but scrambling to their feet and running.

“W-wait…” The girl had fallen and couldn’t get up.

The sound of shoes scraping against the sand.

“It seems I’ve gone too far…”

She trembled, her face pressed to the ground, summoning all her courage to not look up.

“Liz.”

“Yes, Lord of Disease.”

A soft, female voice followed the deep, resonant one.

“Calm her down. And if she’s injured, tend to her. Rebecca can heal minor injuries, can’t she?”

“Yes, understood. Shall I bring her into the mansion?”

“I’ll leave it to you.”

The sound of footsteps, and the gate opened, not with a creak, but with a smooth, almost ordinary sound, as if the hinges had been well-oiled.

“You lot. You know she’s with Liz. Don’t attack.”

She cautiously looked up and saw the back of the figure in the dark green robe. He—she?—was walking away, stroking the necks of the Black Hound Barghests that had gathered around, their tails wagging.

She was so stunned by the surreal sight that she barely registered the voice that spoke to her.

“Here. Can you stand?”

She turned to see a dark elf woman in a maid uniform, her silver hair cut short, offering her hand.

“Y-yes.”

“If it hurts, let me know.” The woman’s hand quickly and gently examined her knees.

“!”

“Just a light bruise and some scrapes.” She was lifted into the air.

“Um!”

“It’s alright. I’m just going to treat your injuries.”

“B-but this is—”

The Lord of Disease’s mansion. A place her parents and the other adults had warned her, over and over, to never go near.

“It’s alright. …The Lord of Disease is… renowned as a heartless monster.”

She flinched.

“But she is also a supreme commander of the Demon King’s army, the pride of the Listrea Demon Kingdom. She is the protector of this nation.”

The woman’s smile was filled with conviction.

And to the little girl, who had, in her young mind, prepared for something worse than death, this woman’s words… seemed to hold the power of truth.